So… my baby is two.

Usually, I post a slideshow early on my kiddos’ birthdays and then come back later to gush on and on about them. On Nolan’s birthday, I fell asleep at 8pm. And slept until 6:30am.

So, that happened. And then other days happened, and now here we are. Time to gush. 😉

This boy, I tell you. There are not really enough words. He continues to show me things about love I never thought I’d understand. I’ll eat my words – there really is something about boys and their mamas.

I wrote updates monthly on the girls until they were two, so if I throw a lot at you it’s because it’s overdue. I’m not even a little bit sorry. Speaking of those updates, it’s so much fun to see how many things Nolan does that are just like his big sisters!

He, like they did, asks for and looks for his relatives (you know, or toys) all. the. time. Every day it’s “Where Nana? Where Pappy? Where Pappy black truck? Where Grandma? Where Grandma Corwa? Where Thomas?” “There they/he/she/it are/is!” He never, ever tires of this “game”. Ever. 🙂

He has just recently started transitioning from one- and two-word phrases to three and four. It’s amazing to me to hear him talk so much, after assuming that between his being a boy and being a younger sibling that we wouldn’t hear his voice until well after two.

You know that idea that toddlers think everything is theirs? You know, “If I saw it, it’s mine. If it’s yours, it’s mine. If it’s mine, it’s mine. If I want it, it’s mine. If you want it, it’s mine…” Yeah, Nolan does, too. He will sometimes share, but not without breaking down into sobs after. Silly boy!

As with the girls, he loves music. He enjoys dancing (and trying out “cartwheels” – I’ll have to find pictures and take video, it’s hysterical) and singing. He still loves “Wheels on the Bus (‘Wheels’)”, but has added to his list and really enjoys “Old McDonald (‘E-I-E-I-O’)”, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (‘Star’)”, “Row Your Boat (‘Boat’)” and Skinnamarink. He also loves all the songs from Frozen, and sings along with the girls.

He knows about twelve animal sounds, and recognizes almost all of his numbers 0-9 and letters A-Z. He’s pretty good at “counting” though I’m quite aware that it’s rote memorization (and not always accurate, at that) and absolutely not one-to-one association. Still so funny to hear! Often, though, to remind me he’s still a little one, he calls letters by their Melissa & Doug puzzle representation. His favorite letter, aside from N of course (for “Nanol” 🙂 🙂 :)), is “House”. He knows most of the colors (including, randomly, grey and brown and the like which I’m not sure any of us taught him) and recognizes shapes and can point them out when one is named, but he cannot name them if you ask.

He adores all things Mickey still (and all of Mickey’s friends), but is also pretty much obsessed with Jake and the Neverland Pirates (especially Captain Hook – what?), the Cars franchise, Buzz and Woody, and trains – both Thomas and Chuggington.

He is quite capable of going to the bathroom on the potty and sometimes tells us when he needs to go, but isn’t all that interested. We feel like we already missed our golden window too, so we’re a little bummed. It may be more of a battle than it was with the girls, but whatever. I think it’s supposed to be harder when you’re always out and about with older siblings. At least that’s what I’m telling myself 🙂

While Elise was starting her asthma journey at about this age (or a few months younger), we are optimistic that Nolan’s is winding down. I don’t think it will ever be “over” in the sense that he’s a champion breather 🙂 but I was watching videos in preparation for his birthday slideshow, and was reminded just how incredibly sick he was ALL the time for the first 18 months of his life. He eats and drinks dairy products without trouble (though we still don’t give him whole milk, which now at two is finally the norm), and we have recently decreased his breathing treatments to once daily. He is also on Singulair which I think is making a huge difference, and we have a new protocol for when he is acutely ill which – knock on wood – we have yet to try out.

I’ll have an update on Monday after his well-child check, but I think the child may actually be growing! While mostly 12-month clothes still fit best, he finally outgrew the 6-12 month pairs of jeans we had held onto for so long, which has to mean something. His endocrinologist added vitamin D supplementation and agreed with Dr. Hardin and his pulmonologist on a course of action for his respiratory problems to avoid any more oral steroids, so hopefully he can start catching up now! We will follow up with both Endo and Pulm later this spring.

His physical looks are definitely changing some to toddler instead of baby, but he is following Avery’s trajectory more than Elise’s – which makes sense, given that he is shaped like her and looked much more like her until he started looking simply like himself. His face has thinned out a ton, but his little arms and legs are definitely “pudgy” (for an under-weight peanut) baby arms and legs. He either eats like he’s ravenous or picks at everything and has two or three bites a day, but hasn’t really met a food he doesn’t like – when he wants it. His favorites are bananas, applesauce, mashed potatoes and hot dogs.

He adores his sisters and dog, more and more each day. That said, he can hold his own trying to get the girls (especially Elise) to leave him alone, usually with the world’s most obnoxious, ear-piercing scream. *sigh* Other times he so sweetly mimics what they do, and wants nothing more than to be just like them. This has been a good reminder to them to watch how they behave around him.

He’s dangerously fearless, which I suppose is better than being afraid of everything? This was especially evident as he would repeatedly walk/jump off the sides of pools in Florida – which might also just reflect his love for water. He is obsessed with phones and iPads, and throws temper tantrums about electronics more than anything else at this point.

He’s a bit of a paradox. He’s shy but flirtatious. He’s taking his time growing up (which I appreciate) but also racing ahead to be like his big sisters. He’s pretty much perfect, and you won’t find a person who knows him who doesn’t agree – if I do say so myself 😉